Dan's the gaffer for Aozora bank

Mystery surrounds the decision by Aozora Bank, the former Nippon Credit Bank, to enlist the notoriously gaffe-prone former US vice-president Dan Quayle as a board member. The bank, which was nationalised following the Japanese financial crisis, was recently snapped up by buy-out firm Softbank.

The former Indiana senator who briefly put together a half-hearted presidential bid last year, will at least bring to his new post a unique insight into Asian society. Back in the 1980s, when asked about his views on euthanasia, he allegedly...